1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to the management of the memory resources in a microcircuit card, more commonly referred to as a smart card. It relates more particularly to an improvement for re-allocating storage spaces by giving the card operating system the task of reclaiming the allocated memory, irrespective of whether this is a read-write memory (usually a "RAM"-type volatile memory) or a reprogrammable read-only memory (usually an "E.sup.2 PROM"-type or "FLASH"-type alterable non-volatile memory).
2. Description of Related Art
Although the memory resources in microcircuit cards are gradually increasing as a result of more efficient new components, they are relatively limited. It is nevertheless becoming possible and advantageous to carry out dynamic storage allocations. However, it is preferable not to leave the de-allocation of the storage spaces already allocated to the initiative of the programmer as a result of possible programming errors and errors in the additional code then required. The latter would then reside in the applications and not in the card operating system. It might consume the reprogrammable read-only memory, a rare and precious resource in the card.